The Swift Blade, 5ed Fighter arquetype

[Nergalus]

Greetings, I would like some feedback on this little archetype I made for a duelist/swashbuckler type character, as you can see it has a lot of monk into it, I wanted to make a really fast and mobile duelist, think Asuna from Sao, thanks for the feedback, cheerio.

The Swift Blade

3rd Unarmored defense, Swift movement
7th Light feet, Unarmored movement
10th Blinding speed, Improved initiative
15th Evasion
18th Swfit Blade

Unarmored defense
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.

Swift movement
You can take the Dodge, Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn. You can do this 3 times per short rest.

Light feet
Doble proficiency bonus on acrobatics and athletics checks made for movement

Unarmored movement
your speed increases by 15 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield, this bonus becomes +20 feet at lvl 10

At 9th level, you gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during the move.

Blinding speed
While you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield, you become a blurr in combat, attacks of oportunity made against you have disadvantage, any creature that doesnt relly on vision to hit i.e: blind sense, tremorsense, ect is inmune to this. In dificult terrain you must make an acrobatis check DC 15 to regain this feature, but you only move half your speed.

Improved initiative
You gain Advantage to iniciative rolls

Evasion
Your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a blue dragon's lightning breath or a fireball spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Swfit Blade
If you moved at least 10 feet in a straight line and make an attack using the attack action, you can use your bonus action to make another attack against the same creature, if you fail this attack, you can roll again with advantage. You can do this only one time per round

[Lalliman]

It's a good start, but there's still some janky parts to it.

What stands out is that there's a few too many features. This is forcing you to put Light Feet and Unarmored Movement together at 7th level, which in other archetypes is usually a ribbon (a minor non-combat feature), and Blinding Speed and Improved Initiative together at 10th, which usually houses only a minor combat boost.

It also doesn't encourage melee combat very well. Given that you can't wield a shield or great weapon (because you're sure to be Dex-based), and that the bonus action economy discourages dual-wielding, your choices of weaponry come down to either a rapier or a longbow. Given that they have the same damage die, and that high mobility greatly benefits an archer, using the rapier is a pretty hard sell.

About the features themselves:

- Swift Movement: 5e design avoids "X times per rest" features where possible. The dodging part of this is also disproportionately powerful. For a front line class, it would be hard to justify ever using your Dash or Disengage if it eats up your Dodges.

- Light Feet: Since all Athletics and Acrobatics checks involve movement (in the real life definition), this is far too open for interpretation.

- Unarmored Movement: This comes online pretty late for how central it is to the archetype. The advancements are also spread out in a weird way. Why split up the benefits if they're still clustered so close together? 9th level is also not an archetype level for fighters. Also, as an aside, you shouldn't give it the same name as an existing feature unless it's exactly the same*, which this one isn't.
(* Or mutually exclusive, like the monk's and barbarian's Unarmored Defense.)

- Blinding Speed: This one overlaps strongly with Swift Movement, both thematically and mechanically. The restrictions on sight and difficult terrain are also rather unnecessary. The eagle barbarian doesn't have those.

- Swift Blade: What a weirdly-specific ability. You get a bonus action attack that also has super advantage? Seems like three features in one. I'd scrap this one for being too powerful and too finicky. Or replace it with a simpler and weaker version.

All of this being said, these are my suggestions:

- Keep Unarmored Defense and Swift Movement at 3rd level, but change Swift Movement to grant +10 ft speed and disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you. Also state that your movement speed increases by another +5 at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th. This is better because A) you can be speedy early on, B) dual-wielding is no longer discouraged by the use of bonus actions, and C) the lack of bonus action Dash/Disengage makes it more compatible for multiclassing into rogue or monk.

- At 7th, remove Unarmored Movement and clarify Light Feet.

- At 10th, remove Blinding Speed. Choose between granting Improved Initiative or the ability to walk on walls and liquids. I think both are too much.

- Keep Evasion at 15th, and simplify Swift Blade at 18th.

[Nergalus]

Thank you very much for the feedback, I applied your suggestions, any more refinement is appreciated

The Swift Blade

3rd Unarmored defense, Swift movement

7th Light feet

10th Agile reaction

15th Evasion

18th Swift Blade


Unarmored defense

Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.


Swift movement

Your speed increases by 10 feet and movement speed increases by another +5 at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th and attacks of oportunity made against you have disadvantage, any creature that doesnt relly on vision to hit i.e: blind sense, tremorsense, ect is inmune to this.

Light feet

You add half your proficiency bonus to any Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity

(Acrobatics) check you make while not wearing any armor or using a shield.


Agile reaction

You gain Advantage to iniciative rolls


Evasion

Your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a blue dragon's lightning breath or a fireball spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.


Swfit Blade

If you take the Attack action on your turn, you can make one additional attack as a bonus action

[SirLamorake]

I would get rid of the incremental improvements and instead have the following at 3rd level.

Light Feet
While not wearing armor or carrying a shield increase your base land speed by +10 ft. This also increase the amount you can move by performing Acrobatics checks. Athletics checks, and the Disengage action by +5 ft.

Precision
Increase the damage bonus from the Duelist Fighting Style by +1.
A little strong for a ribbon, but encourages melee combat.

Then at 7th I'd go with just Evasion.

10th would be something like this.

Blink Step
When not wearing armor or a shield you may choose to only move 20 ft as part of your action. Attacks of opportunity made against you have disadvantage and if you make an attack during that movement you may instead choose to make two attacks with disadvantage instead. This only applies to a single attack made and even having advantage on the attack roll does not negate the disadvantage.

I wouldn't call Swift Blade too strong, but it is too specific, especially the part that forces a super mobile fighter to run in a straight line. I'd lose the requirements and the super advantage. Switch em out for something that increases damage with the bonus attack. Or just increase your Dex max to 24 and give em +4 Dex. Simple, clean, powerful, and a version of an existing classes feature.

These are just suggestions and I do like the idea, but the Rogue has a Swashbuckler archetype that does a lot of things very similarly. If you're making the archetype to play it in a campaign your DM would probably be more open to the Swashbuckler than homebrew.

[Lalliman]

This also increase the amount you can move by performing Acrobatics checks. Athletics checks, and the Disengage action by +5 ft.

I must be missing something. Athletics and Acrobatics checks can be made as a part of movement, but they don't provide movement. How do you imagine this working?

Blink Step
When not wearing armor or a shield you may choose to only move 20 ft as part of your action. Attacks of opportunity made against you have disadvantage and if you make an attack during that movement you may instead choose to make two attacks with disadvantage instead. This only applies to a single attack made and even having advantage on the attack roll does not negate the disadvantage.

This is very clunky. It pigeonholes the player into doing the same highly-specific action over and over again, even more strongly than the original Swift Blade. It also inexplicably ties an action that seems like it should be usable separately (the double attack) to the usage of your movement, and it requires a specific subrule nullifying one of the game's most important base rules in order to maintain balance. I would advise against using it.

[Nergalus]

First I would like to thank you guys for the feedback, its great, I like SirLamorake advice to swich Evasion to lvl 7, but now im wondering what to do with lvl 15, moving Light Feet to lvl 15 seem a little weak, thoughts?

Again, thanks a lot n_n

[SirLamorake]

I must be missing something. Athletics and Acrobatics checks can be made as a part of movement, but they don't provide movement. How do you imagine this working?


This is very clunky. It pigeonholes the player into doing the same highly-specific action over and over again, even more strongly than the original Swift Blade. It also inexplicably ties an action that seems like it should be usable separately (the double attack) to the usage of your movement, and it requires a specific subrule nullifying one of the game's most important base rules in order to maintain balance. I would advise against using it.

Normally when you would perform an Athletics or Acrobatics check with move there is some kind of penalty. I don't know any DM who would say vaulting over a broken cart, diving underneath giant tree roots, and then swinging from a low hanging branch is the same as walking an equal distance. The ability insures you can move a greater distance while performing feats of agility and even how far you can jump without a big strength score. It could be better worded, but that's the intent.

I admit Blink Step is clunky, but I wanted to suggest something that fit Nergalus initial desire of a more anime styled character and dashing at high speed rapidly swinging a sword is peak anime swordsman. While a simpler ability would probably be better for the game, sometimes you just gotta follow the rule of cool.

Then again... What do you guys think of this?

High Speed
Starting at 10th level you can push yourself beyond normal limits, but at great cost. You may choose to sacrifice your Action Surge to instead cast Haste on yourself as a bonus action.

Very powerful, but you lose the fighter's absolute best ability and the tradeoff is fairly even when it comes to your damage output. You get 6 extra attacks compared to the 3-5 (at 11th level) you would normally make as part of Action Surge, but spread out between six rounds. The other benefits are also pretty hefty, but you lose the sheer versatility of Action Surge and it is your 10th level ability.

In response to your question Nergalus I would either combine Light Feet and Agile Reaction into a single feature or go with Lalliman's comments on Blink Step.

Blurring Blade
At 15th level once per round you may make two attacks with disadvantage instead of making a single attack.

Lost the advantage doesn't cancel out rule. Losing an attack with advantage for two normal attacks plays in your favor, but I don't think it's enough to warrant a special rule and would help keep High Speed relevant at later levels.

[Nergalus]

Just in case, here is the final product, DM approved


The Swift Blade


3rd Unarmored defense, Swift movement

7th Evasion

10th Agile reaction

15th Light feet

18th Swift Blade


Unarmored defense

Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.


Swift movement

Your speed increases by 10 feet and movement speed increases by another +5 at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th and attacks of oportunity made against you have disadvantage.


Evasion

Your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a blue dragon's lightning breath or a fireball spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Agile reaction

You gain Advantage to iniciative rolls


Light feet

Enemies flanking you dont gain advantage to attacks against you also add half your proficiency bonus to any Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check you make while not wearing any armor or using a shield.


Swift Blade

Spending a bonus action you can move up double to your speed, this movement and all other movement made in this round is treated as if the user is invisible, so creaturtes that relly on sight cant make attacks of opportunity against the user, creatures with blindsense or other means to percieve the user can make opportunity attacks normally, , also during this round you can walk on vertical surfaces and liquids, your jumipng speed its doubled as well, and the first attack you make after moving at least 10 feet has advantage. You can use this ability again after a long rest.


Thanks for the help :D